The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting liquid droplets to a target medium, and more particularly, to a liquid ejecting apparatus configured to be able to transport a plate-shaped member such as a tray on which a disk-shaped target medium is mounted.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a recording apparatus, such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile, which employs an ink jet recording head and ejects ink from the recording head to a recording medium, to thus effect recording. The liquid ejecting device is employed to encompasses an apparatus that ejects a liquid appropriate to an application, in place of ink from a liquid ejecting head corresponding to the ink jet recording head onto a target medium corresponding to a recording medium, thereby causing the liquid to adhere to the medium.
In addition to the recording head, the liquid ejecting head encompasses a coloring material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filer such as a liquid-crystal display or the like; an electrode material (conductive paste) ejecting head used for forming electrodes, such as an organic EL display or a field emission display (FED) or the like; a bio-organic substance ejecting head used for manufacturing a bio-chip; a sample ejecting head serving as a precision pipette; and the like.
Some of ink jet printers, which are examples of the recording apparatus or liquid ejecting apparatus, are configured to be able to take as a recording medium an optical disk, or the like, which is typified by a CD-R or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or the like, and to eject ink droplets onto a print face of the recording medium. As described in, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 2004-106344A and 2003-211757A, an optical disk is generally set, in such an ink jet printer, on a plate-shaped tray. The optical disk is transported along a transporting path in the ink jet printer while remaining set on the tray. The label face is subjected to ink jet recording.
Incidentally, an ejector disposed downstream of a recording section has an ejecting roller to be rotationally driven and an ejecting follower roller which is rotationally driven while remaining in contact with the ejecting roller. In order to prevent occurrence of a white patch of ink or transfer of ink, the ejecting follower roller adopts a spur roller having a plurality of teeth provided over an outer periphery of the roller However, some of the optical disks have a data storage area located immediately below the label face of the optical disk. When the ejecting follower roller (the spur roller) comes into contact with the label face of such an optical disk, there may arise a case where damage is inflicted on the data storage area located immediately below the label face.
Therefore, in an ink jet printer configured to be able to subject a label face of an optical disk, or the like, directly to ink jet recording, the ejecting follower roller is configured to retractably come into contact with the ejecting roller, as described in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 2004-130774A, 2004-42382A, and 2003-211757A. When the label face of the optical disk is subjected to ink jet recording operation, the ejecting follower roller is configured to be retracted from the ejecting roller (i.e., the label face of the optical disk).
However, each of the above ink jet printers has been desired to be enhanced in view of the points provided below.
First, a recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-130774A is configured such that a frame supporting the ejecting follower roller is joined to an ejected sheet stacker by a link mechanism. The frame (the ejecting follower roller) is vertically actuated in accordance with operation for switching the position of the ejected sheet stacker. Accordingly, as a result of adoption of such a link mechanism, the configuration has become likely to incur a cost hike associated with an increase in the number of parts.
Second, a recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-42382A is configured such that an attachment (an optical disk transporter) is removably attached to a main body of the recording apparatus, and such that the ejecting follower roller is caused to retract from the ejecting roller by actuating a slide cover forming the attachment. Accordingly, a cost hike associated with an increase in the number of parts is likely to be incurred, and a predetermined operation must be performed. For these reasons, the recording apparatus cannot always be said to be user-friendly.
Third, a recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-211757A is configured such that, when the tray member on which an optical disk is mounted is set in the recording apparatus, the tray member pushes by itself a release roller provided on a frame provided with the ejecting follower roller ascends. This configuration enables reliable release of the ejecting follower roller without involvement of a special operation, but involves a disadvantage of the inability to ensure a large release stroke of the frame. In order to retain the frame in a retracted position in a stable state (posture), placing a plurality of release rollers in the widthwise direction of the tray member is desirable. However, the release rollers obstruct an ejection of a cut sheet and, hence, must be disposed outside the transporting path of the cut sheet. Consequently, when the release rollers are provided on both sides of the transporting path of the cut sheet, the width of the tray member must be increased correspondingly.
In addition to the above-described problems, problems such as those provided below are also encountered. In the ink jet printer, the recording medium is transported by a transporter provided upstream of an ink jet recording head. The tray member on which the optical disk is set is also transported by the transporter as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-106344A or Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-211757A.
The transporter is formed by comprising a transporting roller to be rotationally driven and a transporting follower roller which is rotationally driven while remaining in contact with the transporting roller. However, the transporting follower roller is provided so as to come into press contact with the transporting roller in order to ensure a high accuracy of transport during transport of the recording medium, such as a cut sheet. When the transporting follower roller comes into press contact with the label face of the optical disk set on the tray at the time of the tray being transported by the transporter of the above configuration, there may be a risk of a passage trace of the ejecting follower roller being formed on the label face.